Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments
by Taylor Jae
Summary: A collection of scenes, one-shots, and whole story arcs revolving around things seen and unseen in the series of Merlin, season 1-5 and beyond, mostly from the POV of Arthur and Gwen. Will include moments that I wish we could've seen in the show (the first year of their marriage, for example), and moments that expand on scenes in the show (4x05, 4x03, 5x06, 2x02, 5x03, 3x10, etc.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys!**

 **It's been way too long since I last wrote anything for Arthur and Gwen. I've decided to start this new story, which is a little different than what I've written before. I plan to write short little scenes, or one-shots, or sometimes whole story arcs that will take up several chapters, all in random order, expanding on things seen in the show-or, most importantly, not seen in the show. That's why I decided to name this Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments.**

 **It won't have any order, as I said, it will be random: a moment from an episode I think should've been written in one chapter, a chapter with some new characters the next. This story will include Gaius, all the knights, Merlin, the guards, Catherine/Kate-Gwen's maid-and Shayla, Arthur and Gwen's infant daughter. You can read my first A/G story, Arthur and Guinevere: A Love Which Brings Light to read about her, if you want. They'll have other children too, who will also be featured in these chapters.**

 **Some moments will be from their honeymoon/newly married period that we didn't get to see with the time jump, some from seasons 1-5, and some from beyond season 5 (because, as the version in my head goes, Arthur is saved in the last five minutes of 5x13, and he and Merlin return home to Camelot safely). Just a random mishmash of all things Arthur and Guinevere.**

 **I hope this makes some kind of sense and I hope you guys enjoy this first chapter, scenes I think would've been written in to 4x05 if there had been time.**

 **Oh, and disclaimer: don't own Merlin, obviously. If I did, season 5 would've had WAY more A/G scenes! But that's what this story is for. Hope you guys enjoy it!**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 1

(Referencing 4x05):

"Gwen? Are you all right? You haven't been yourself these past few days," Merlin says. He'd happened to see her out in the lower town when he was on his way to the woods for herbs for Gaius, and had been halted by his friend's saddened expression.

"I'm fine, Merlin, everything's...fine."

"It isn't. That's plain as day all over your face."

"Gee, thanks," Gwen says sourly, and then realizes to her horror that she is actually about to cry. She looks down at her blue dress.

"Hey, I didn't mean anything by it," Merlin says gently, putting a hand on her arm, making her look at him. "I just wanted to make sure you were OK. Are you sure you can't tell me what happened?"

Gwen looks as if she's about to shake her head no again, but something in Merlin's face tells her to tell him, so after a moment she finally says, "Arthur...has decided that we can't be together. Him and me."

"I'll kill him," Merlin says threateningly. It's an immediate response.

"Don't," Gwen says wearily, shaking her head. "It's-

"Fine? Gwen, it isn't," Merlin says, already walking away from her.

"Merlin! Where are you going?"

"To knock some sense into our king," Merlin calls back.

A/G * A/G

"Arthur! Are you crazy?" Merlin bellows, marching into the council chambers uninvited. "What could have possibly possessed you to break up with Gwen? She is the best thing to ever happen to you and you know it." Merlin only feels allowed to yell at the King because he happened to barge into the council chambers when Arthur was by himself. Although, come to think of if, he very well would have yelled at the King no matter his location, no matter if he was with other people or not. This was too important. This was about Arthur and Gwen, the one relationship Merlin could count on as a lasting, shining example of true love. Except of course, in cases when the King happened to be behaving particularly idiotically. Well, like now, for instance. "And the fact that she's being so...gracious about it just kills me-

"Merlin, stay out of this," Arthur says shortly. "How do you know about it, anyway?"

"I just talked to Gwen."

"Oh," Arthur says. This makes him look down at the paper he was pretending to write on, the possibility of Gwen hurt-with himself as the causer of that hurt-too much for him to acknowledge directly. "Well, you two have been friends for years. It's only natural that you would-

"Arthur, seriously," says Merlin, frustrated. "What on earth could've made you end things with Gwen? In all the upheaval in your life lately, she's the most dependable person you know." Suddenly, Merlin realizes and his eyes narrow and he says, "you've been talked into this, haven't you?"

Arthur's hand clenches into a fist subconsciously, a show of unconscious upset over hearing that accusatory phrase having been said once already by Gwen, and now repeated by Merlin. Or maybe it was the truth of the phrase that gnawed at him. Maybe both. Probably both.

"I haven't been talked into anything."

"Oh, please. Arthur, it's obvious what an influence your uncle has on you. If you only could realize that-

"I thought you were here to yell at me about Guinevere, not about my uncle."

"Don't you see how they're connected? Arthur, if Agravaine's the one who told you to end it with Gwen-for the sake of 'appearances' or whatever-then, frankly, he's crueler than I thought. Oh, and also: you're an idiot for following his orders."

"Merlin-

"No, Arthur, I'm not going to let you ruin this."

"You can go now," Arthur says loudly, to be heard over his servant.

"Fine, I will, but one more thing: Gwen is my best friend, and I'll be the last one to let you hurt her like this."

And with that, Merlin leaves the room.

A/G * A/G

Later that evening, Merlin goes looking for Arthur. He felt a little guilty, yelling at him like that, even if the things he said were true. He wasn't King, he had no business being King at all, but Merlin knew how alone Arthur felt in his new role, especially without Gwen there beside him. He didn't want to make him feel more alone than he already did.

Merlin doesn't have to do much searching to find him; he finds the King at his desk in his chambers. "Look," Merlin says, only to have Arthur glance up tiredly at him in a "what is it now?" sort of way. Merlin fully ignores his expression. "I know there are all these new pressures on you since becoming King," Merlin continues, in a much quieter voice than he had used when he'd shouted at him earlier in the day. "But, Arthur, how you could end things with Gwen is beyond me. You love her."

"That's right, I do," Arthur says looking up at the magician now, his voice harsh. "I love her more than anything else in the world."

"And yet you still broke it off-

"I hated it, Merlin. Do you understand that? I hated every second of that conversation. I almost didn't go. I left my chambers three different times. And when she opened the door of her house to let me in and I saw her face, I nearly turned around and walked home. I hated-HATED-to have to watch her face in reaction to my words to her. And the worst part was, she wasn't even angry. She looked so...disappointed in me, after."

 _But you still went_ is the thought that hangs in the air between them. Still, Merlin chooses to ignore it, for Arthur's sake, seeing the very genuine pain in his face as he talks about it.

"You can't find as good a person anywhere as there is in Gwen," is what he says.

"I know, I know that," Arthur says, sighing. "She's the best thing to ever happen to me."

Merlin looks at him pointedly. "So what are you going to do about that?" He asks.

And enter: the purple flower apology scene.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys!**

 **Here's a cute little random Arthur/Gwen/Shayla moment. Enjoy!**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 2

Arthur and Gwen are in the Royal Chambers, dealing with a crying Shayla, whose around four months old. She has been fussing, fussing, fussing for the last 45 minutes, and Gwen is out of ideas as to how to soothe her.

"We can fix this," Arthur says confidently, when he sees that Gwen is starting to look a little frazzled.

"How?" She moans, resting her head against his shoulder for a second.

"With this," he says, and hands the baby to Gwen so he may pull the pram from the nursery.

"Arthur," Gwen sighs. "How is her pram going to help us? It's pouring outside. How will we wheel her around?"

"Why, inside the castle, of course," Arthur answers confidently in his of-course-I've-got-a-plan voice.

"What?"

"I'll carry the pram down the main stairs, you'll carry Shay, I'll put her in the pram and we'll wheel her around and around all the hallways and corridors. She's bound to fall asleep that way."

"But, Arthur, the point of taking her outside was so that she wouldn't disturb everyone. Her crying isn't exactly quiet, you know." As if he didn't already know that.

"But she's the Princess," Arthur declares proudly. "Everything she does is adorable, crying included."

Gwen smiles at that, laughs a little, says, "You didn't exactly say that two days ago when she was practically screaming for an hour because she was too stubborn to fall asleep."

"That's because she doesn't want to miss anything," Arthur replies without missing a beat. "Gaius says I was the same way."

"Oh, good," Gwen says sarcastically. She smiles when Arthur smirks at her in response.

"Besides, I'm the King," he says. "If I say I can wheel my daughter around in her pram inside the castle, then that's what'll happen."

"OK," Gwen agrees, smiling a little through her distress. Arthur rests a hand on his wife's arm for a moment before turning to put Shayla in the pram. "Arthur, are you sure this will work?"

"No," he answers plainly. "I'm not. But we've at least got to try, right?

"Right," Gwen says with a smile. And with that, Arthur puts his arm around Gwen's shoulder loosely with one hand as she wheels the pram with Shayla inside through the door and out of the Royal Chambers.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys!**

 **Thanks for all the reviews thus far. It's especially nice to see some familiar screen-names from people who have read my previous Arthur and Gwen stories. Thanks for reading this one, your support means so much to me.**

 **Disclaimer: don't own Merlin. If I did, well, season five would've gone way differently, let's just say that.**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 3

"Arthur, you can't do that," Gwen says during a routine council meeting to prepare for a trip away from Camelot.

"Guinevere, I love you, but could you act a bit more like a queen right now rather than a wife, please?"As if on cue, in unison both Merlin and Gwen, standing on either side of him, swat the King on either shoulder for his comment. The Knights around the table fight back smiles at their actions.

"OK, one)," Gwen starts to say, "I'll always be a wife AND a queen, Arthur Pendragon, that kind of happened the day you married me, and two) I didn't even mean it in the worried-wife-way you think I usually mean things like that. What I meant was, you can't do that because you literally cannot go that way; the passage is blocked."

"And what do you suggest instead?" Arthur asks, and Merlin feels like they could easily be in their chambers discussing some other issue rather than in the middle of a formal council meeting.

"Hmm. Give me a second to think," Gwen says, and she turns away from the table with the map, her one arm folded across her chest, the other one resting on it, her forearm extended up so her hand rests on her chin while she thinks. Leon studies the map too.

"ColdFire Cave," Gwen and Leon say in unison. They glance at each other in surprise.

"What?" Arthur says.

"You've never heard of it?" Gwen asks, genuinely surprised. Arthur shakes his head.

"Explain it to me," Arthur says, squeezing her hand.

"It's a little hidden underground pathway," Gwen says.

"You find it by looking for a small mound of sod north of the east mountains, kick it in, and there it is, a pathway," Leon elaborates. Arthur nods, considering all of this.

"We used to go there all the time as children," Gwen says. "Remember, Leon?" The Knight nods.

"We used to go camping there, swimming there. We were there many many times."

"Remember that one time?"

"The time we accidentally fell in the water-

"And got dragged by the current miles down the river? I'll never forget that as long as I live," Gwen says.

"How old were you?" Merlin asks.

"I don't know," Gwen says thoughtfully, thinking about it. "Maybe eight years old? Wouldn't you say, Leon?"

"Yes, eight or nine. Somewhere near there."

"What did you do?" Gwaine asks. "How'd you get out of the river?"

"Leon found this big piece of driftwood and we both laid on it and just sort of held onto it with our lives and tried to navigate the current," Gwen answers.

"I remember your father-Gwen, do you remember this?-he ran along the bank, trying to find a safe place to reach out and save us."

"I can still hear his voice, clear as day," Gwen says wistfully. Arthur puts a hand on her shoulder. "Calling our names. Shouting at us to be heard over the roar of the water, telling us it would all be OK."

"And it was," Leon says. "Because when we finally got to a more shallow, more calm part of the river, your father lifted us both out with one hand. One hand," Leon says with admiration, looking around the group of men. Gwen is the only female among them. "He was so strong-he had to be, working with and pounding metal for his job as the blacksmith."

"He swung us into his arms and kissed us on our heads," Gwen continues. "When he held me close to him, I could feel him shaking; I knew we'd scared him, even if he hadn't showed it."

"And our mothers didn't let us out of their sight for two weeks, after. Remember?" At Leon's statement, Gwen laughs quietly.

"I do remember, now that you say that. We had really frightened them too. I recall-

And all of the sudden, Colette-one of the couple's most trusted maids, save for Kate-comes running into the council chambers. "My Lady," she says, slightly out of breath from all the running. "Shayla threw her blanket out the window-

"Oh, God, not her blanket," Gwen exclaims. "Listen, you stay with Shayla and Kate, I'll get the blanket, and we'll meet back in the Royal Chambers. Deal?"

"Deal," Colette says, looking hugely relieved. "How do you always know what to do, Gwen?"

"Experience," Gwen answers with a smile. "I'm sorry, Arthur," she says in urgency.

Arthur waves her off nicely. "Do you need me?" is all he asks.

"No," Gwen says, shaking her head. "We'll be OK. I think. Maybe. This is the terrible twos, though, so you never know. I'll send for you if need be," Gwen calls on her way out the door, Colette behind her. Arthur smiles after his wife, watching her go, and his smile continues when he glances down at the map again. Then he clears his throat, and gets back to business.

"Leon, you really think this ColdFire Cave is the way to proceed?"

"Yes, sire, I do," the Knight says. "Gwen's right: you can't go the other way; the cave's the best alternative."

"Then that's what we'll do," Arthur says confidently. "Meeting adjourned."

A/G * A/G * A/G

A few days later, having reached ColdFire Cave with his men, Arthur eyes the river running along next to it, water rushing by much too quickly, looking dark and ominous when it usually appeared to him as a place of peace. Leon sees him standing there by himself, and walks over to join him. "So, that's it?" The King asks. "That's the river you and Guinevere fell into?"

"The one and only," Leon says with a smile.

"It's a miracle you both survived that," Arthur says, admiration in his voice.

"Indeed, sire, it really was. We were lucky." Leon is silent, looks out at the river and back to Arthur again. "What I remember most-besides her father pulling us both out of the water with one hand; I was hugely impressed with that as a child-is how calm she was."

"Guinevere, you mean?" Arthur asks. Leon nods.

"She didn't cry once. Not even when I wanted to-we were only eight here, remember. Not even when the current tried to suck her under. She was just a little thing at that age-she takes after her mother, her father always used to say with a smile. The water tried to toss her around, but she kept hanging onto that driftwood-

"That you found," Arthur reminds him.

"And thank God I did. If I haven't, we'd surely have been crushed by the pressure of the water against the rocks."

"I cannot think about that," Arthur admits.

"I know," Leon says kindly, putting a hand on the King's shoulder for a second or two, knowing he's thinking of Gwen. "Thank God you don't have to," the Knight says, and patting the King's shoulder quickly in brotherly affection, they walk away from the river and back to the group.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, guys!**

 **Many thanks to all who've been reading this story so far. Your support means the world to me.**

 **I hope you all enjoy another sweet Shayla moment for this chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: don't own Merlin, Bradley has no idea of my existence, so, you know, the usual :)**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 4

Shayla at 11 months:

It is a beautiful morning in April, though it feels more like Summer than Spring, the clear blue sky a blanket around Camelot, the green grass bathed in sunshine, the temperature hovering around 65 degrees. Arthur carries Shayla on his shoulders, Shayla gripping fistfuls of his blonde hair in her little baby fists to hold on. The Knights and Merlin see the King come up over the hill to approach the practice field, Shayla bobbing up and down on the King's shoulders. They smirk at one another, amused at seeing the King who to them only represents strength and speed and quick wit and authority, being in this moment all parental and fatherly.

When he approaches the grass preceding the training field, Arthur lifts his daughter up and over his head using both hands. With Shayla now in one arm, he untucks a blanket he'd had tied around his sword belt. When he unfolds it, an assortment of toys comes tumbling onto the grass-a set of jingly keys strung together with red yarn and twine given to her by Gaius; a set of four wooden building blocks painted an assortment of primary colors-red, blue, green, and yellow-that had been around during Arthur's own babyhood; a knit book made and written by Catherine about piglets, stitched together with thread; and a rattle made for her by Gwen that Shayla liked to hold up to her ear and listen to. The King lets the blanket fall to the grass, sweeps the toys onto it while holding Shayla around her middle with his other hand, before plopping her down gently on the blanket in front of the toys.

"Guinevere had some things to get at the market with Kate, so instead of hauling out the pram, I said I'd watch her," Arthur explains as he's doing all of this.

"And how will you do that, exactly?" Merlin asks. "You're leading the training session." The King rolls his eyes at his servant.

"Why don't you let me worry about that, all right, Merlin?"

"All right, I will. You're the father here," Merlin replies, slightly tauntingly.

"That's right, I am," Arthur answers in his usual slightly irritable, annoyed way. His face softens when he looks down at Shayla again, however. She is thoughtful in her toy selection, and after passing on the keys, the rattle, and the book, she selects the stacking blocks, corrals them around her, and begins carefully arranging them in a line. A smile splits her face at the sight of the four blocks all in a row; this has become her favorite activity as of late. "See?" Arthur says. "She's fine."

"Let's see how 'fine' she is when you walk away from her," Merlin challenges, half-serious, half-joking. But the King fails to respond to his comment, and Merlin looks down to see Arthur crouched down by his daughter. Arthur's hand looks especially big on the baby's back.

"I'll be right over there, Shay," he tells her in a nice way, even though she can't answer him except in incoherent gibberish. The baby, however, doesn't so much as glance at her father, too absorbed in her toys, and so is perfectly quiet and content when he steps away from the blanket and heads a few yards away to the training field. At this, Arthur smirks at his servant in a "told you so" kind of way, to which Merlin laughs. The magician does feel a bit better about things when he sees Arthur ask two of the couple's most trusted guards to stand watch near Shayla ("make sure she doesn't wander off," Merlin hears Arthur tell them. He knew that in getting close to walking, Shayla was prone to toddling off.) The guards take their posts by the Princess gladly, of course, leaving Merlin and Arthur and the Knights to get on with their training practice.

A/G * A/G * A/G

Guards there or not, Shayla does panic about 45 minutes later, however, when she looks up and doesn't see her father. She lets out a cry, which Gwaine happens to hear. He taps the King's shoulder, who was teaching something to Leon and didn't hear it over the noise of the sword. At Gwaine's gesture towards Shayla, Arthur walks quickly over to her, picks her up. "Hi, Shay," he says, jostling her in his arms, quickly kissing her plump baby cheek. "Everything's OK. See? I'm right over there."

A/G * A/G * A/G

That comforts the Princess, so much so in fact that whenever she cries again-which isn't often, she is amazingly enough entertained all by herself-all Arthur has to do is walk a few feet away from the men so she can hear him say her name and see him (with the one exception of her growing hungry at around 10:45 AM, in which case Arthur runs over a small bag of dried cereal, which he had stored in a saddle bag.)

A/G * A/G * A/G

When the whole morning's training is complete, Arthur picks up his daughter, while Merlin folds up the toys into the blanket again, before handing it to the King. Arthur accepts the blanket, nods his thanks, and they proceed to walk back to the castle as a group, Arthur of course the only one toting along a super-adorable baby, holding her nonchalantly in his arms as he's been doing it all his life.

"It's amazing how she tolerates the sounds of the swords," Leon remarks thoughtfully.

"It's just part of her," Arthur replies.

"You mean to say this sweet baby right here is inherently bound to be a sword-swinging warrior?" Merlin asks, knowing he'd get a reaction from Arthur, and did when the King promptly rolls his eyes at his servant's question.

"No, Merlin," Arthur says in such a bored, tired way that makes everyone laugh. "It means that she heard the sound so often in the womb that it doesn't bother her." This makes Merlin think of Gwen. "Guinevere was out here so often that it just became part of Shayla's daily life, even before she was born."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys!**

 **Back with another update. This moment is a little bit darker than what I've written previously and could possibly lead to another scene being written, but I'm not sure yet; let me know how you liked this in the reviews.**

 **I'm really having fun writing these little snippets of their life, I'm glad you guy are just taking it for what it is and accepting this format even though it's not a proper story in chronological order.**

 **Thanks again and happy reading!**

 **Oh, and disclaimer: don't own Merlin, Bradley still has no idea who I am, the usual.**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 5

"I was—I went—I didn't mean—

"Out with it, Merlin," Arthur says, frustrated. "Where were you?"

"Morgana's grave." He says it so quietly he is hardly heard.

"What!?" Arthur exclaims. "What in God's name—How could Morgana even have a grave sight? I saw you kill her. And you did not bury her, I remember. We left her lying in the dirt where she belonged." Gwen squeezes her eyes shut at the words.

"One of her men must've done it," Merlin says, miserably now at his friend's expressions. "Someone wrote to me anonymously and told me of it."

"And you believed them?" Arthur cries, his tone of voice a mixture of disbelief and frustration. "Why? You could've been walking into a trap!"

"Gaius advised me against it."

"But you didn't listen."

"Arthur, you should know by now: Do I ever do what I'm told?"

"No," Arthur and Gwen answer together flatly. If things weren't so awful this is what would've made her turn to smile at him.

"Do you have any idea what the ramifications of such an event could be?"

"Ramifications, that's a big word, Arthur," Merlin tries to joke.

"Did anyone see you? There could be spies anywhere."

"No, no one saw me. At least, I'm pretty sure no one did."

"Merlin, trust me on this, you'd best be pretty damn sure about that," Arthur answers darkly. "Because if you're not—

"I was, I am," Merlin insists.

"Do you have any idea of the risk you took? And all for what? To visit the grave of my dead sister for some reason I cannot begin to comprehend—

"Because I never told you—Because there's still a part of me that remembers who she was when she was good; Gwen, you know what I mean, don't you?"

"You could put Camelot in peril!" Arthur continues as if Merlin hadn't interjected. "And Shayla—

"Arthur, that's enough," Gwen says then, taking his arm and dragging him down the hall. "You need to calm down."

"Guinevere, I cannot possibly," Arthur says, though he lets her lead him anyway.

"But, my love, you must."

Merlin listens as their voices grow smaller and smaller as they walk away from him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey, guys!**

 **Back with another update.**

 **I'm really happy with how this one turned out, so let me know what you think in the reviews.**

 **Just for reference: 5x03 was one of the better episodes from series five, I think, but it was not without its flaws. And, as with almost every episode in the series but particularly the last one, the flaw was the lack of Arthur and Gwen scenes. There were some great scenes between them in 5x03 that were deleted—and by great I mean, 'great to see them on screen together for more than a minute', they weren't great in the storyline because they involve Arthur lying to Gwen's face after she asks him about where he's been and what he's been doing and if there's anything going on that he's not telling her about. I hate that he lies to her outright, and that is probably why the scenes were cut by the producers (the scenes are able to be viewed on YouTube, if you want to watch them). Still, even without seeing those deleted scenes, we know as viewers of the show that in 5x03 Arthur technically lied because he kept the truth of what was going on with his father a secret from his wife, and that really bothers me. And we never find out why he chooses to keep things a secret, either—is it to protect her? Is it because he is slightly ashamed that he, a great King, still misses his father and wishes he were around, no matter how cruel his actions sometimes? I don't know. All I can do is speculate. So, this missing moment is to remedy that and try and answer some of those questions and resolve the issue of Arthur lying to Gwen.**

 **Now that we've got that out of the way…**

 **Disclaimer: don't own Merlin**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 6

(Referencing deleted/non-deleted scenes between A/G in 5x03):

After Merlin tells Arthur that glancing back made his father's spirit enter Camelot (during which time Gwen leaves the scene, insulted, in a deleted scene), Gwen re-enters the main room.

"Arthur," she says, coming up to him, her face full of concern, too good of a person to be mad at him anymore. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Guinevere—

"I know something's wrong," she says. "I can see it all over your face. Won't you please tell me?"

"I can't," Arthur says, running a hand down his face, turning away from her for a second.

"You can," Gwen says gently. "You can tell me anything. We're a team, aren't we?"

"Yes, Guinevere, we are," Arthur says, knowing his wife's words are true. He is silent for so many seconds she fears he won't tell her until finally he takes both of her hands in his, and says, "I didn't want to tell you before, I wanted to protect you from this, but..."

"But what, Arthur?" Gwen prompts kindly. "Go on. It's all right."

Arthur sighs, pauses, then finally says, "Merlin seems to think I 'unleashed' my father's spirit when I went to visit him the other day—it sounds strange, I know; I'll tell you more about that later—and Merlin thinks he's now a ghost wreaking havoc on Camelot," Arthur says flatly.

"What?" Gwen says incredulously.

"You must think I'm an idiot," Arthur says, sighing again.

"No, Arthur," Gwen says. She puts a hand on his arm comfortingly. "I would never think that."

"Then what do you think? Truly? I'm asking for your opinion."

"Well," Gwen says carefully, in thought, "You told me the candelabra DID fall on the Round Table, it represents equality, something your father never practiced. It really is quite likely that—

"Have you been talking to Merlin? Did he secretly tell you?" Arthur exclaims at her answer.

"No," Gwen says with a smile and a shake of her head. "No, he didn't tell me. I'm glad you did, though." She lets go of one of his hands to caress his face lightly.

"I don't want to have any secrets from you, Guinevere," Arthur says, mirroring his words spoken in 4x03 (deleted scene).

"Good," she says warmly, kissing his cheek. "Now, I am off to the kitchen. One of the maids needed my help with something."

"At this hour?"

Gwen nods, shrugs.

"I'll see what they want, and I'll be back soon."

"Good," Arthur says. "Oh, and Guinevere?"

"Yes, Arthur."

"Just...be careful."

She smiles at his concern.

"I will," she says, and she leaves the room.

A/G * A/G * A/G

It is only a short while after his conversation with Gwen. Arthur is headed to the armory to check on a few things, when a guard, one of the couple's most trusted, comes running up to the King.

"Sire," the guard says hurriedly.

"Yes, what is it?"

"It's Gwen. She's been—Merlin found her—

"What happened?" Arthur says, his voice slightly raised, the panic pinching in his throat.

"I-I don't know, sire. All I know is I saw Merlin carrying her to Gaius' chambers and he said for me to get you right away—It looked bad, sire—it looked really bad—

And with that Arthur takes off running to the physician's chambers.

When he gets there, he sees Merlin laying Gwen down very gently in a bed, he sees Gaius quickly bringing over something in a small vile.

"What happened?" Arthur asks, not caring how his voice cracks with emotion. "Merlin, what happened?"

"I-I found her locked in the kitchen," Merlin says. "It was awful, Arthur: fires everywhere, smoke...it was like she was to be burnt alive."

"Oh, my God," Arthur says, turning away from his servant, putting a hand to his face. "What about the maid? Was she in there too?"

"What are you talking about, Arthur?"

"Guinevere said—the reason she went down to the kitchen—a maid—needed help..."

Merlin shakes his head.

"No one but Gwen was in there, Arthur." At his servant's answer, the King swears under his breath.

"I should've gone with her. I told her to be careful—but I should've gone with her."

"What?" Merlin asks.

"I told her, Merlin," Arthur says. "I told Guinevere what's been going on. With my father."

"Good," Merlin says approvingly. "I'm glad you did. It looks like you might be figuring out this marriage thing after all, even if you are three years late."

"Still," Arthur says, completely ignoring the servant's attempt at a joke, "that didn't stop this from happening. I should've gone with her," he says again. After a second to slightly compose himself, the King turns back to Gaius. "Gaius, what have you given her?"

"A sleeping draft, sire," Gauis says as Merlin pulls up a chair next to the bed for Arthur. "It will help her sleep, help her recover faster." The King slumps into the chair, reaches for Gwen's limp hand and holds it.

"We know this was Uther," Merlin volunteers then, his voice low and quiet.

"We don't know what happened," Arthur says shortly, glancing at his servant before returning his gaze to his wife's sleeping form.

"Yes we do," Merlin says indignantly, surprising the King. "It was Uther. He disapproved of your relationship with Gwen-

"That shouldn't matter anymore, Merlin. My father is dead."

"Well, right now, he's back in ghost form, as I told you earlier, and with all the pain he's caused thus far, I'd say he's very much alive."

Arthur looks to his servant, and back to Gwen. After a long moment, he turns to look at the physician.

"Gaius," he says. "What do you know about ghosts?"

A/G * A/G * A/G

After the ending scene with Merlin, Arthur wordlessly walks back with him to his and Gaius' chambers to sit with Gwen. She sleeps. He holds her hand.

A/G * A/G * A/G

The next morning, a council meeting is pushed back so that Arthur may be with his wife.

"Please, Arthur, don't feel guilty about this," Gwen tries to say before she goes into a coughing fit. Arthur quickly grabs a goblet of water and hands it to her. When she is finished, she hands the goblet back to him, leans back against the pillows, exhausted already. "I love you for worrying about me, but I'll be fine."

"Guinevere—

"Go to the meeting," she says, coughing again, lightly.

"If you're sure," he says hesitantly.

"I am," Gwen says, smiling a tired smile. "Take notes for me."

He looks at her squarely once more.

"I promise to return the second it's finished," Arthur finally says.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Gwen answers with a faint smile. Arthur gets up from his chair, kisses her forehead, hands her the water goblet.

"I'll be back soon," he promises, and he exits the physician's chambers.

A/G * A/G * A/G

When the King returns to Gaius' chambers, along with Merlin, he sees Gaius giving his wife a tonic. Gwen puts the vile to her mouth, takes a sip, then just as quickly brings the vile away from her mouth.

"Oh, gross," she says.

"It is foul-tasting," Gaius says. "I am sorry about that, Gwen." Arthur glances at Merlin.

"What?" Gwen asks, seeing the silent exchange.

"Merlin and I had to take an equally-foul-tasting potion to deal with the ghost of my father last night," Arthur explains, sitting down in his chair again, taking his wife's hand. "What is that for anyway, Gaius?" The King asks.

"It's to get all the debris from her lungs, sire. So we don't run the risk of infection."

"Of course." Arthur looks to his wife again, the worry and guilt plain as day on his face.

"Truly, Arthur," Gwen says, seeing her husband's expression. She squeezes his hand comfortingly. "Besides this awful-tasting potion, I really will be all right."

"I am sorry, Guinevere," Arthur says in a low voice. "You knew—you knew that whole time that something was going on, and I lied to you about it. My God. I can't believe I lied to you about it." The King runs a hand down his face.

"Do you know why I let you go on and didn't press the issue anymore after I asked you those first couple of times?"

"Because you're too great a wife granting grace I can't possibly deserve?"

"Well, yes," Gwen says in response, making Merlin and Gaius hide smiles. "But I know you well enough to know that you did it out of reasons that felt right to you at the time. I know you only do that sort of thing when you're trying to protect me from something."

"Which I was. Or I tried to, anyway," Arthur says miserably.

"And anyway, I was just waiting for you to come to your senses and tell me yourself, which you did." She smiles in a lovely way at her husband.

"Yes, but only before you were nearly killed by the malevolent ghost of my father," Arthur answers darkly.

"Arthur—

"I am sorry, Guinevere, truly," the King says, looking down to where their hands were clasped together. "I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping it from you, but I wasn't. I was wrong and I love you and I'm sorry for what happened to you because of my stupidity."

"I know, I know you are," Gwen answers, caressing his face. She squeezes his hand again, kisses his cheek. "And, Arthur, I love you for it."

"Good," he says, leaning forward, putting his hand on the back of her head so he may press a slow, sweet kiss to her forehead. "Because, Guinevere, I love you more than anything in the world."

A/G * A/G * A/G

A day later, Gwen sits on the edge of her bed in Gaius' chambers looking down at the vile she is forced to drink from.

"Honestly, Gaius," she says with a shake of her head. The physician glances over at the Queen to see her holding up the vile, smiles at her.

"If it helps, Gwen, Merlin once had to taste a potion made of toad's guts, horse dung, and sheep's brain."

"Gross!" She exclaims, laughing. "He did not."

"I did," Merlin says from where he's helping prepare a potion for another patient, turning to look at his friend.

"Really?"

"Yes!" He comes over and sits in a chair kind of across from her. "Remember Catrina? The Troll?" Gwen figures it out and is laughing when Arthur enters the chambers. He comes over and sits next to his wife on the edge of the bed.

"What's so funny?" Arthur asks, taking her hand loosely in his.

"Oh, nothing," Merlin offers casually. "Just talk of potions—oh, and your stepmother-for-a-day, Catrina." Merlin mimes drinking a potion, making Gwen laugh into her hands. Arthur's eyes narrow at the mention of his former stepmother.

"Now is that never speaking of it again?"

"No, sire," Merlin says seriously. He glances at Gwen again, and the two of them break into laughter again.

"Honestly, you too," Arthur says tiredly, in a joking way.

"Hey, I was just trying to cheer your wife up," Merlin says.

"Actually I was, Merlin," a voice says, and Arthur glances up to see Gaius there too. "I told Gwen that Merlin once had to taste a potion of sheep's brain, toad's guts, and horse dung," Gaius explains, "to help her not feel so bad about her own potion."

"And what does that have to do with Catrina, may I ask?" Merlin and Gwen glance at each other and laugh again. When they recover, Arthur looks to his wife, and says, "You seem better."

"I am, I think."

"Good." He kisses her cheek. "When will she be able to return to our chambers, Gaius?"

"Tomorrow, I think. One more night here will be sufficient."

"You're sure? You're sure there's no more risk of infection or anything—

"Yes, I'm plenty sure, sire, I assure you. You're not doubting my capabilities as Court Physician, are you?"

"No, Gaius, of course not."

"Good. Because I have taken care of your wife practically all her life, and when I say she'll be fit to return to your chambers tomorrow, you'd best believe me." The twinkle in his eye and the warm smile on his face shows he is not mad, just fatherly towards them—all of them, Gwen, Arthur, Merlin.

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you," the King answers, a boyish smile slipping into his face.

"Me too," Gaius replies, making all of them laugh.

When they recover, Arthur says to Merlin, "Prepare the cot for me tonight as you did last evening."

"Of course, sire."

"Arthur, really, that's not—

"No 'nots' about it, my beautiful wife. Sleeping without you means all is not well in my world."

"That's very sweet of you, but I know you've got that training session to lead tomorrow, a simple cot cannot be comfortable enough for proper rest—

"I am just fine whenever I'm with you," Arthur replies. "No more talk of this, Guinevere. I plan to sleep down here with you rather than up in our chambers, just as I did last evening."

"And by 'sleep here last night' you mean you slumped over in the chair when you fell asleep holding my hand."

"Precisely."

"OK," she says, not stopping the smile that slips onto her face at her husband's words.

"Make sure you take that potion, now, Guinevere," Gaius tells Gwen sternly, glancing at the vile in her lap, still full.

"I will, of course, right now," Gwen replies obediently, joking. Simultaneously, she and Merlin mime drinking a potion again, making all four of them laugh.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey, readers!**

 **I hope you enjoy this cute Arthur-Shayla moment. As always, thanks for reading, and as always, nope, don't own Merlin.**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 7

Shayla at five months (September):

Merlin comes into the Royal Chambers one morning in late September to be almost ambushed by Arthur and Gwen. "Shh!" They both say, Arthur putting a hand up to Merlin's mouth to stop him from talking. After a moment of silence, both Arthur and Gwen breathe a sigh of relief. Arthur slowly takes his hand away from Merlin's mouth. "May I ask what that was about?" Merlin whispers.

"Sorry, Merlin," Gwen says. "Shayla got absolutely no sleep last night-making us get absolutely no sleep last night too. She was upset all night long for some reason-

"She was completely inconsolable," Arthur says.

"What?"

"If you have a baby, Merlin-

"Which I don't-

"-You learn this very quickly," Arthur says. "There are levels of crying."

"Levels?" Merlin repeats skeptically. He glances over at Gwen, who nods knowingly, making him look back to the King.

"There's the kind-of crying," Arthur says. "There's the stirring-from-sleep crying, there's the hungry crying, there's the wet crying, there's the unhappy crying, there's the overtired crying, and then there's the Inconsolable Crying."

"And what is that, exactly?"

"That, my no-baby-possessing friend, is a level of crying so intense and loud and awful that she cannot bring herself out of it alone. It's the one that hardly ever happens, and it's the one that unfortunately befell us all last night."

"She's sleeping now, though, finally," Gwen says, yawning. "That's why we reacted to you the way we did, Merlin. If she were to wake up upset again I don't know what we would do...I don't know what I did wrong," Gwen says, beginning to walk around the main room of the Royal Chambers, her voice wavery. "I tried-

"Guinevere," Arthur says, stopping her pacing, putting warm hands on her shoulders. "I told you already, you did nothing wrong. It was just...a bad night."

"Bad? Arthur, a 'bad' night is when you forget to burp her and get spit-up all over yourself."

"I learned my lesson on that one, yes indeed," Arthur murmurs, making Merlin hide a smile.

"Last night was...I don't even know what last night was," Gwen says. "Bad, like I said. Awful, really."

"I know it was," Arthur murmurs. "You need to sleep," he says quietly to her after a moment.

"I know." Gwen rests her head on her husband's shoulder for a second, closes her eyes. After a second, Arthur puts both hands on her shoulders again, marches her over to the bed.

"In you go, my beautiful sleep-deprived wife," Arthur says, holding up the corner of the comforter for her.

"I can't, Arthur, we've got that meeting-

"Correction: I have a meeting. You, my darling, are going to stay here and sleep."

"And when are you going to sleep?" Gwen asks.

"I'm the King. I don't need to sleep," Arthur says confidently, making Merlin laugh into the palm of his hand.

"Sure," Gwen says unconvinced with a smile. She gets under the covers, though, all the same.

"Trust me, Guinevere. You sleep, I'll go to the meeting. Everything will be fine. You'll see."

A/G * A/G

Arthur isn't fine. He falls asleep about halfway through the meeting, making Merlin, again, laugh into the palm of his hand.

"And, meeting adjourned," Merlin whispers, making the men around the table laugh-quietly, of course.

"Woman problems, huh?" Gwaine says saucily, getting up from the table to follow the others to the training field.

"More like baby ones," Merlin replies. "Shayla had a bad night last night, making Arthur and Gwen have one too."

"Love's sacrifice, is it not?" Gwaine says, his eyes sparkling.

"It is," Merlin agrees, smiling down at the sleeping King.

A/G * A/G

Hours later, Arthur wakes up. And when he does, he is upset.

"What happened?" He exclaims as he did in 3x02. "Where is everyone?"

"You've been asleep for six hours, Arthur," Merlin says. "The meeting is long over."

"What?" Arthur sighs, rests his head in his hand, his elbow propping up his hand. "Why didn't you wake me?" Merlin shrugs.

"Because I knew if I did, you'd stumble through your whole day, sleepless, and that's no good for anyone."

"In case you haven't noticed, Merlin, that's what I've done practically every day since Shayla was born."

"I do know that," Merlin says. "That's why I didn't wake you. I didn't want you to go back to Gwen and Shay grumpy and upset. Trust me, no one wants that." Arthur rolls his eyes at his servant's last comment.

"I can't believe you didn't wake me up," is all Arthur mumbles under his breath before he pushes his chair back and leaves the council chambers. But when he gets back to the Royal Chambers, the King's disgruntlement is forgotten when he sees his wife and daughter. Gwen smiles, kisses her husband's cheek, hands him their daughter, who snuggles into her father's tunic when she sees who it is. "Hi, Shay," Arthur says sweetly to her. "Yeah, hi."

"I heard you fell asleep?" Gwen asks with a smile, resting her chin on her husband's shoulder from behind as he sits in the chair behind their desk.

"How'd you find out?" Arthur moans, putting a hand over his eyes, Shayla in the crook of his other arm.

"Leon stopped by and told me," Gwen says, a smile in her voice as she sits in a chair next to him. "I guess things weren't as 'fine' as you thought."

"I guess not," Arthur admits sheepishly. "I really do love you, Guinevere," he says after a moment, glancing at her meaningfully.

"I know, I know you do," Gwen says, reaching over to lightly caress his face. "I love you too."

"And I love you too, Shay, a lot, a lot, even if I lose sleep for you," Arthur says to his daughter, making Gwen-and Merlin-laugh.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, guys.**

 **Enjoy this scene from 4x02. This is my take on how Arthur would have reacted in hearing what Gwen went through with Agravaine while he was away.**

 **As usual, don't own Merlin.**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 8

(Referencing Gwen/Agravaine events of 4x02):

Arthur comes up behind Gwen, merely coming up to say hi to her. His presence behind her, though, his hands on her shoulders, makes her jump, startled, instead of turning around to kiss him lightly on the cheek like she always does.

"Sorry," Arthur says in a smiling way like he did in 3x10. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"Sorry," Gwen apologizes, not quite meeting his gaze. "After that whole Agravaine thing, I'm afraid I'm still a bit jumpy."

Arthur's eyes narrow.

"What 'whole Agravaine thing?'" He asks. Now Gwen looks uncomfortable.

"It's nothing, Arthur, truly—

"Guinevere," Arthur says in a low voice, taking hold of her hand. "Please tell me what happened." Gwen looks at him for a long moment, then down at her hands. "You can tell me anything," Arthur says, in as gentle a voice he had ever used, and only uses, come to think of it, for her.

"It was while you were away, fighting the Dorocha," Gwen starts, her voice too quiet. "I spoke out against the closing of the city gates."

"Yes? Go on, Guinevere," Arthur coaxes when her sentence fails to continue. "Please tell me what happened."

"Arthur, really, do I have to? It's over now, anyway—

"Please tell me what happened, Guinevere," Arthur says again. After a long moment passes between them, Gwen sighs and says:

"Agravaine thought that was commendable, I guess—my speaking out, I mean—because he asked to seek my counsel on the matter. Only, in his chambers. At night." She cannot look at Arthur, whose face has turned into a long grim line and whose body is standing too still. "I went to see him," Gwen continues. "He asked me some questions, I answered them. He had his hands on the back of my chair…I could feel his hands reaching out towards me, as if he were about to—

Gwen's sentence breaks off; she shakes her head, the thought too awful to utter aloud. At her words—and especially by all implied by the lack of them—Arthur's hands clench into fists at his sides.

"Go on, Guinevere, please," Arthur says in a low voice.

"He finally dismissed me, I left," Gwen continues. "The guards walked me home, only we didn't make it there. The only thing I knew next was being in Gaius' chambers. He was putting something on a wound on my head, said it was probably Morgana who'd knocked all of us out—me, and the guards during our walk home."

"I should've been there," is all Arthur says in a low voice before turning and walking away from her.

"Arthur," Gwen cries, walking quickly after him, having to run a little in order to grab onto his arm. "Where are you going?" Gwen asks, fearing she already knew. "You're not going to tell him, are you? That I told you? Because I really don't think—

"I love you, Guinevere, and no one, especially someone related to me, should ever treat you that way." Arthur caresses her face for a second—the sweet gesture completely opposite of his harsh tone—and then turns and keeps walking.

"Arthur! Just—WAIT a second. Please don't—

He stops walking, turns to look at her again.

"Go home," he says to her in a gentler voice now. "I'll be there in a while." For some reason all the fight goes out of her.

"OK," she says, leaning forward tentatively to hug him. He accepts the hug and hugs her back, then sees her walk away from him before continuing towards the citadel.

A/G * A/G

"Uncle. A word," Arthur says seriously, bursting into the throne room, surprising Gaius, Merlin, the Knights, the guards, everyone. There is a smoky anger around the King Merlin now only associates with something to do with Gwen. He looks to Gaius to not see surprise too on the old man's face but understanding, and is half worried, half curious. What had happened?

"Sire, I—

"Now," the King says. Agravaine stands, waiting. "Guinevere just informed me of her visit to you last week. What was the meaning of it? She was very reluctant to tell me about it."

"Why, it was nothing bad at all, sire, I assure you," Agravaine answers confidently. "Just two people discussing matters of our fair city." His cartoonish grin makes the King even angrier.

"Since when are those matters discussed privately?" Arthur asks. "In your chambers? At night?"

Merlin understood now; he understood all too well now why Arthur was so angry. It made him angry too—furious, actually. Agravaine must notice this, both men's angry protective demeanor, but if he does, he promptly ignores it.

"Sire, it was merely a scheduling issue," he says. "If you must know, Guinevere agreed to it. She seemed all too happy to offer her thoughts on the subject." Merlin looks to the King, who's fixated on Agravaine's smug expression. He looks ready to tackle his uncle in one fell swoop.

"If you intended to take advantage of her, I swear, I'll— Arthur starts to say in a low rumbly voice. But Agravaine cuts him off.

"Sire, if you think that of me I really don't know what to say. Indeed, there's no point in denying it: Guinevere is a beautiful woman, sire, but of course you already know that."

That squashes the King's kindness and understanding. Arthur starts forward towards his uncle, but Merlin and Gwaine restrain him. Arthur fights them off and stands there defiantly, anger all around him as he looks at his uncle. "Sire, I assure you," Agravaine starts to say.

"Enough," Arthur bellows, surprising Merlin with how loud his voice had become. "Guards, put him in the cells."

"Arthur, you cannot possibly," Agravaine says as three guards surround him and take him by his arms, ready to bring him out of the throne room. "I am your only living family—

"Guinevere is to be my family, Uncle. I'm not sure anymore about you."

Arthur does not look once at his uncle as he exits the throne room, giving the signal to the guards to escort Agravaine to the cells on his way out. Merlin sees that Agravaine's brought to the dungeon, then hurries after the King, knowing he most likely went to Gwen's.

A/G * A/G

He was right.

Merlin enters Gwen's house to see Arthur already there. He is holding both of Gwen's hands. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Guinevere," Merlin hears the King say quietly to her, his tone filled with emotion Merlin had never heard before. He watches Arthur hug Gwen, watches how she sinks into the embrace, watches how Arthur covers her head with a warm hand.

"I know you're sorry," Gwen says when they come out of the hug. "And I love you for it. I love how protective of me you are, but truly, I'm OK."

"You're sure?" Arthur looks at her with concern, his hands smoothing the hair away from her face, and Merlin sees clearly how Gwen changed him to be a better man in that facial expression and that action alone.

"Yes, Arthur." Gwen caresses his face lightly, smiles a little at him. "Is it true, Merlin," Gwen asks, seeing him now, making Arthur turn around to notice him too. "Is Agravaine really in the cells?"

"I escorted him there myself," Merlin says, sitting down in a chair at Gwen's kitchen table, watching how natural it is for Arthur to help Gwen into a chair before sitting in one of his own next to her. He takes hold of her hand again.

"Arthur, was that really necessary?" Gwen asks kindly.

"Yes," Arthur answers flatly. "Anyone who even attempts to hurt you must be immediately put under lock and key, Guinevere."

"Arthur—

"Well, what about the time you tried to cook for her, and then lied to her about it? I'm sure that hurt her a little bit, didn't it, Gwen?" Merlin asks jokingly, seeing that this issue could turn ugly and deciding to save it with a little humor. "Why weren't you put 'immediately under lock and key', Arthur? Hmm?" Arthur scoffs at his servant's words, can't fight a boyish smile from slipping into his face.

"That, Merlin, was a very different situation," is all the King says. It makes Gwen laugh, though, resting her forehead on Arthur's shoulder for a second, and it makes Arthur laugh a little too, so Merlin knew it had been the right move.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, guys!**

 **I'm back with another update, a super-cute Arthur/Gwen one this time.**

 **I also wanted to say thanks for all the reviews and favorite-ing this story has gotten lately. I read every review, and they all mean a lot to me, but one in particular, from MsPercival, was super-special to read. To hear that I inspired someone else to start writing through my own writing blew my mind. So, MsPercival, this chapter is dedicated to you. Your review was so heartfelt and awesome—it's that kind of response that sums up the reason I write in the first place. Firstly, I write for myself—writing for FanFiction sometimes even feels a bit selfish because I'm fulfilling my own whims and wants when it comes to a series, like Merlin, or particularly a relationship I feel was sometimes undervalued, like in the case of Arthur and Gwen in series five. To receive feedback like yours, MsPercival, and others of you who have taken the time to not only read my stories but review them as well means the world to me.**

 **Thanks again for your support, and happy reading!**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 9

"I've canceled the staff," Arthur announces to his wife one afternoon. Gwen narrows her eyes in suspicion/confusion.

"Um. OK. What are we to do for supper?"

"I'M going to cook," Arthur declares confidently.

"You!? You, Arthur Pendgraon, are going to prepare supper." Arthur frowns, slightly annoyed/hurt at his wife's surprise.

"Yes, ME, Guinevere," Arthur retorts. "I have many hidden talents, you know."

"Oh, I'm sure you do," Gwen says, barely managing to suppress her laughter.

"Trust me, it's going to be great." And with that, Arthur stamps a kiss to Gwen's cheek and exits the Royal Chambers.

A/G * A/G

"So, are you surprised?"

"Pleasantly so," Gwen says, smiling at her husband over her water goblet, a spread of chicken, potatoes, rolls, salad, and a fruit and cheese plates between them on the kitchen table, nearly all gone now.

"See? I told you, Guinevere, didn't I? Hidden talents." Arthur's smile is so confident Gwen laughs to herself into her napkin.

"Oh, yes," Gwen says, playing along. "And you managed to do it without burning the food or burning down the castle. Good job," Gwen says approvingly.

"Cook did help me out with a bit or two," Arthur admits then, adorably, making Gwen laugh out loud. Once they both have recovered, Arthur says, "Shayla is even enjoying it."

Gwen glances over to her infant-soon-to-be-toddler daughter, where she sits happily in her wooden high-chair, munching on fruit and small pieces of chicken. "Aw, Shay, you like it?" Shayla responds by grinning up at her father, food all over her face. Arthur smiles, takes a warm cloth and gently cleans her up. It is watching him carefully clean their daughter's cute tiny baby hands when emotion overcomes her.

"I love you," Gwen says, standing when Arthur does, empty plates in each of their hands.

"I love you too, Guinevere," Arthur replies as he always does, the words always so full of meaning. He kisses her quickly on the mouth. When they break apart, Gwen surveys their dining room table and says,

"Since you did the cooking, the least I can do is clean up."

"Guinevere," Arthur says with a smile. "That's a lovely thought, but you really don't have to."

"No, no," she responds quickly with a smile. "It'll be fun." She gathers up all their plates and silverware and glasses, Arthur helps her prepare them on a tray to bring down to the kitchen.

"I'm afraid Merlin won't know what to do with himself without this job to do," Arthur says. They both knew he'd be along shortly to collect all this and do the washing himself as he normally did.

"I know."

"And you know that Cook is going to hate you being in her kitchen. She barely lets Merlin in there, and he's been under my orders to do the washing up for years."

"Yes, I know that too," Gwen says with a smile. "See what I meant about it being fun?" Arthur doesn't think he's ever loved his wife as much as he did in that moment right then.

"Indeed," he says, smiling his own smile, kissing her quickly on the cheek. "Here, I'll open the door for you." And he does, helps Gwen out into the hall with her tray, only to see Merlin just approaching their chambers, surprise coming to his face at the sight of the couple.

"What's wrong? Did I not come early enough? Oh, God, I knew I should have left earlier, I knew it, just—

"No, no, Merlin, it's nothing like that, you are perfectly on time," Gwen says, smiling. "Since Arthur did the cooking, I said I'd clean up. Now, I'd best get down to the kitchen." She looked wistful for a moment. "It'll remind me of my days being a serving girl."

"You were never 'just a serving girl', Guinevere," Arthur says, squeezing her arm in husbandly affection. "You were always much more than that." She smiles at him in a most lovely way and then proceeds to turn and walk down the hall to the kitchen.

And all the while, Merlin is still trying to process this.

"You, Arthur, King of Camelot, cooked supper!?"

"Yes, Merlin," Arthur replies in his serious, knowing, nonchalant Arthur way. "I prepared a meal for my wife, my daughter, and myself. What's so strange about that?" Merlin doesn't even hear him.

"And Gwen— he says, turning to look where the Queen has gone. "This wasn't like the last time he tried to cook for you, was it?" Merlin yells to her down the hallway.

"No," Gwen says, practically trilling the word.

"But, really, Arthur, you cooking? I just can't believe it," Merlin says, still in disbelief. "You haven't cooked for Gwen since that time during the tourney."

"Well, then, why don't you come in and I'll tell you about it," Arthur says, and so the two men proceed into the Royal Chambers, where Arthur blathered to Merlin waiting for Guinevere to return.

A/G * A/G

When Gwen does return to their chambers, Arthur proceeds to carry their daughter nonchalantly in his arms into the nursery.

"I call story time tonight!" Gwen calls after him.

"Then you better get in here before I start read-ing," Arthur calls back teasingly. "OK, Shay, what story do you want to hear tonight? How about the one about how Daddy saved Camelot from the Bad Guys again?"

"Arthur Pendragon, you made that story up and you know it!" Gwen yells. "Besides, how about telling her a story where you do something other than be the hero?"

"OK, how about this: One day, a long time ago, Shay, Daddy and Mommy and Uncle Merlin traveled to a faraway land to save Uncle Eleyan. And Mommy told Daddy that just because I was a prince didn't mean she had to do what I told her to..."

"I like that story," Gwen says, coming into the room, a smile on her face in the low candlelight.

"I figured you would," Arthur says in a lovely low voice. "It's my favorite too."

A/G * A/G

Later that night, long after Shayla has fallen asleep, Arthur and Gwen sit together amidst the soft candlelight in the main room of their chambers.

"Thank you for making dinner tonight, Arthur, truly," Gwen says. "For all my teasing, it really was quite lovely."

"Anytime, Guinevere," the King says easily.

"Really?" Gwen says, one eyebrow raised in skepticism.

"Truthfully? Probably not," Arthur answers, making Gwen laugh.

"Well, it was a nice gesture, however infrequent it will be in future."

"I never did ask you about the washing-up," Arthur says then, shifting a little on the couch so his arm slid around Gwen's shoulders. "How'd it go? Was Cook mad?"

"No, Cook likes me," Gwen replies, waving away the concern with her hand. "I've never admitted this until now, but she used to let me sometimes take leftovers home."

"Why, Guinevere Pendragon, I am shocked," Arthur says dramatically, jokingly, putting a hand over his heart. "Stealing from your place of employment."

"I wouldn't call it stealing, exactly," Gwen says, trying not to laugh. "She allowed it. And when I asked her about that, about Uther not allowing it, she said if he ever was angry about it, he'd have her to deal with. In her way, Cook looked out for me."

"I did too," Arthur murmurs. "Or tried to, anyway."

"You did, believe me, you did," Gwen says, snuggling into his shoulder. "You loved me best out of everyone, sneaking me socks for cold nights and material for dresses and staying at my house way too late just to be with me. You were wonderful- _are_ wonderful," she adds.

"You, Guinevere, are wonderful too, my best friend."

"And you're mine."

"Good," Arthur says quietly as he sees Gwen start to fall asleep against his chest. "I was hoping I would be."


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, lovely readers!**

 **Back with another update, referencing something happening between series three and series four that I just completely made up, though part of the idea was loosely based on another story here on FanFiction called, "The Secret," by Minusmelle13. The author of that story puts a much more light-hearted, humorous spin on things than I do as you'll read, which makes for a terrific and hilarious story overall. Check it out if you want—it really is a great read.**

 **Disclaimer: don't own Merlin. The usual.**

 **Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!**

Arthur and Guinevere: Missing Moments

Chapter 10

 **Present Day:**

"Guinevere and I once planned to elope," Arthur says, and Merlin feels like he's fallen over, he's so shocked.

"What?" He says breathlessly. "You've never told me that." _WHY did he never tell me that!?_ is Merlin's next immediate thought, but he keeps it to himself.

"We planned to run away, get married, and leave Camelot."

"Leave Camelot?" Merlin cries out. "Dear God, Arthur—

"And we would have too, we almost did," Arthur says. "We planned to meet at the stables and ride a couple hundred miles to this little chapel Guinevere knew of. It's where her parents were married—

"Surely you saw how impossible that was," Merlin interrupts. "The second he realized you were missing, Uther would've sent Leon and the patrol after you. And surely if they'd found both of you, Gwen would've surely been killed—

"No more, Merlin," Arthur demands loudly at the magician's last statement, the mere even imaginative possibility of his wife hurt—or worse—too much for him to bear. They sit in silence for a few long moments. "Besides," Arthur finally says. "It didn't work anyway. And, God, I was so ready for it, so terribly ready for Guinevere to be my wife, so ready for us not to have to hide our relationship anymore—

"Even then?" Merlin asks, his eyes wide. "Way back then, even before your father passed—you both were ready to be married to each other?"

"Yes, Merlin," Arthur says quietly in his knowing, nonchalant Arthur way.

"And you had to wait all that time—

"Yes, because, as I keep trying to tell you, it didn't happen in the end." A wistful look passes over the King's face, but Merlin notices that the look is clouded with sadness.

 **Flashback:**

Arthur and Gwen got over halfway to the chapel when Gwen suddenly stopped her horse, jumped off it. She was crying, Arthur slowed his horse too and jumped to the ground. He put his arms around her. They didn't talk for a few moments. Finally, she lifted her head from the King's chest and caressed his face and tried to smile through her tears but couldn't because she told him, "Arthur, we can't get married."

 **Present Day:**

"Why?" Merlin cried out, glued to the story in the way of a little kid. "Why not?"

"This is the part I love and hate: she did it for me, Merlin," Arthur says. "Not for herself. She told me..."

 **Flashback:**

"Because we have to return to Camelot," Gwen had said, "We have to. I-I wish to marry you, Arthur, truly I do, more than I've ever wished for anything in my life, honestly, but—we can't."

"And why in the hell not?" Arthur had demanded harshly. "I love you, Guinevere, I love you more than I can properly put into words—

"Because you're to be King," Gwen told him, looking up at him with so much love in her eyes his chest had hurt, making him fall silent. "We can't just leave. We can't betray the people like that—

 **Present Day:**

"And what did you say?" Merlin all but yells. He is surprised to see the King's face contorted with the difficulty.

"I tried to persuade her otherwise, of course," Arthur says, "telling her that it would all be all right, that someday, long into the future, we could possibly return to Camelot and I could accept the crown and rule as King, with her as my Queen, of course…"

 **Flashback:**

"God, Arthur," Gwen had said to him, shaking her head, half in frustration, half in sadness. "Please, I'm begging you: do not make this harder than it already is."

"Guinevere—

"The people need you," Gwen had offered next, sniffling tearfully. "Your father needs you."

" _I_ need you," Arthur said, his voice thick, harsh, his hands on her shoulders.

"And you'll have me," Gwen said. "We will get married… someday."

"How on earth do you know that?" Arthur exploded. "We're throwing away the one chance we have!"

"My God, Arthur, think about it for a moment," Gwen said, trying her hardest to keep her voice level. Her insides were shaking with anger at the unfortunate state of it all. "Just take a second to think about this: Can you imagine how difficult it would be? Even if we did get married tonight, we would still have to keep up appearances in Camelot and not be seen in public together, and when we would be together, there'd be a good possibility I or you or both of us could get killed for it, me more than you being a servant, of course—

"I would never let that happen," Arthur declared.

"I know," Gwen had said in a soft voice. "I know you'll always protect me." She caressed his face with her hand. "But what about your father?"

"What does my father have to do with any of this, Guinevere? This is about you and me, no one else."

"As it should be," she agreed. "But what if he sets up another arranged marriage, as he did with Princess Elena? What about that? You would have to make up some sort of crazy excuse why you wouldn't go along with it, and surely he'd catch on that something was amiss sooner or later after you did that a couple of times, and oh God, I would be in the throne room, pouring water and have to listen to him rattle off eligible women for you to court, and—oh, God, I couldn't do it." She bowed her head, crying against Arthur's chest for a few more seconds before looking up at him.

"We can't get married, Guinevere," Arthur finally said, the words difficult for him to say, fraught with sadness, with defeat, with helplessness. "You're right, as always."

"I wish I wasn't," she said, crying still. The couple stayed standing together for a while. "So," Gwen said, clearing her throat, trying to stifle all the rest of her tears. "We will hide here in the woods and return to Camelot in the morning as though nothing's changed." Arthur nods, knowing that's the only thing they can do, the kiss they shared then marred with sadness, regret, remorse at what they wanted so desperately and weren't able to have.

 **Present Day:**

"…And so that's what we did," Arthur says to Merlin, folding his arms across his chest. "We slept on the forest floor and came back to Camelot before first light, no one ever knowing anything had happened at all."

"Really?" Merlin can't imagine it. "That really happened between you two."

"Yes, Merlin." Arthur suddenly looks past him to see his wife come through the Royal Chamber doors. "Ah, Guinevere," he says. "Just the person I wished to see." He holds out his hand in a gesture that guides her to sitting on the edge of their desk, Arthur in a chair behind it with Merlin sitting in a chair next to the desk.

"Merlin, are you all right?" Gwen asks then, peering at her friend with concern. "What have you two been talking about?"

"I finally told Merlin about the night you and I ran away to get married." Gwen squeezes her eyes shut at the memory.

"I'm glad it worked out the way it did, in the end," she finally says. "Bad times and all, though we both weren't happy about it at the time."

"You were the one who made me see sense, Guinevere," Arthur says, reaching over to squeeze her hand. "If you hadn't stopped us, I would've ridden right to that chapel and married you that night."

"I know." At that Gwen smiles her loveliest smile. She did know. He'd been angry with her for a while, but when morning came, he realized, as he'd said, that she'd given up their chance for him, not for herself, and that made him love her more than ever. "I never for a second doubted that. And I do love you so awfully much, both for who you were then and who you are now, you know that?"

"I do," he says, and he leans over and kisses her on the mouth.

"Truly, what would you have done?" Merlin asks seriously. "Where would you have lived? How would you have managed food? We all know Arthur can't cook to save his life—

At that, Arthur elbows his servant in the ribs.

"We actually had managed to find this little abandoned shack," the King explains, "and we had spent some time smuggling items there, like bedding and food and things."

"We were so in love it made us stupid," Gwen says, glancing over at Arthur.

"Well, I'm certain then that one thing hasn't changed," Merlin says. "Arthur must really love you, Gwen, because he's plenty stupid to this day." Arthur elbows his servant in the ribs again while Gwen laughs at his comment.

"We truly believed we could live there on our own, and that things would just work out, somehow," Gwen says, continuing her thought, her voice sounding just as wistful as Arthur's face had appeared earlier.

"Had it actually happened, would you have told me, ever?" Merlin asks, trying not to feel selfish by his feelings of hurt and insult. "Or Percival, or Leon, or Gwaine? Or Gaius? Or Geoffrey, of all people. Surely you knew he was the one who wrote out the marriage certificates—

"We'd planned to tell you all eventually, but when the time came we hadn't really gotten around to it," Arthur answers, looking to his wife. "I would've gone through with it, you know," he tells her. "Struggles and all."

"I know," Gwen says with a smile. "I know that. If we could've, you already know I would've gone through with it too. We would've been very happy there in that little shack, I have no doubt, but it would have been wrong."

"Do you ever regret it?" Arthur asks suddenly, surprising Gwen. "Marrying me, I mean. The scrutiny, the social demands, the weight of it all—

"No," she replies, shaking her head. "Not for one single second," Gwen answers, no hesitancy whatsoever in her voice.

"Good," Arthur replies, looking relieved. "Because without you, Guinevere, my life would be nothing but dreariness."

"Mine too," she answers, and she leans down to kiss her husband fiercely on the mouth.


End file.
